Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:9

“You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Living under the grace of God instead of under a sense of duty frees us from a self-serving motivation. It frees us to obey God and serve him as a loving and thankful response to him for our salvation and for blessings already guaranteed to us by his grace. Consequently, a heartfelt grasp of God’s grace—far from creating an indifferent or careless attitude in us—will actually provide us the only motivation that is pleasing to him. Only when we’re thoroughly convinced that the Christian life is entirely of grace are we able to serve him out of a grateful and loving heart.

I knew a man who was a strict tither, giving exactly 10 percent of his income to God’s work: never one penny less and, as far as I know, never one penny more. I asked him why he did this. He replied, “I’d be afraid not to.” I knew this man fairly well, and I suspect his motivation was mixed. He did somewhat enjoy giving his 10 percent, but his basic motivation was a fear of the consequences if he did not tithe. He was not motivated to tithe from a joyful and grateful heart.

By contrast, the apostle Paul appealed to Christ’s grace as a motivation to give: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Paul wasn’t “laying a guilt trip” on the Corinthian believers. Rather, he wanted them not only to give generously but to give from a sense of gratitude for God’s grace—as a cheerful, loving response to what God had already given them in Christ.

https://www.navigators.org/Home

Today’s Scripture: Galatians 3:24

“The law was our guardian until Christ came.”

The primary purpose of the law is not to curse us but to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23). Rather, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). The language is emphatic. Christ literally became a curse in our place as our substitute. He experienced the full fury of the curse that we should have experienced. It’s true he did it for us, but he did so by doing it in our place as our appointed substitute.

Here we see the importance of our legal union with Christ. As our God-appointed legal representative, he was legally qualified to endure the curse in our place as our substitute. There’s no adequate analogy for this union in human experience. One person may pay a financial debt for someone else, but no one can serve a prison sentence as a substitute for another. In human jurisprudence, a moral debt such as a prison sentence can be served only by the person who incurred it.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – From Curse to Christ →

Today’s Scripture: Philippians 4:11

“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

There’s a place for legitimate discontentment. All of us should, to some degree, be discontent with our spiritual growth. If we aren’t, we will stop growing. There’s also what we might call a prophetic discontentment with injustice and other evils in society, coupled with a desire to see positive change. But there’s also a sinful discontentment that negatively affects our relationship with God. It can easily lead to resentment or bitterness toward God or other people.

Whatever situation tempts us to be discontent, and however severe it may be, we need to recognize that discontentment is sin. We’re so used to responding to difficult circumstances with anxiety, frustration, or discontentment that we consider them normal reactions to the varying vicissitudes of life. But that just points out the subtleness and acceptability of these sins. When we fail to recognize these responses to our circumstances as sin, we’re responding no differently from unbelievers who never factor God into their situations. We’re back to our ungodliness as the root cause of our sins.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Contentment →

Today’s Scripture: Psalm 61:5

“You, O God, have heard my vows.”

Commitment to the pursuit of holiness is, first of all, a commitment to God to pursue a way of life that is pleasing to him. It is commitment to a life of obedience. Such a commitment must allow for no exceptions, no secret sins we want to hold onto, no sinful habits we’re unwilling to give up. We must make it our aim not to sin.

This doesn’t mean we can arrive at sinless perfection in this life, for even our best deeds are stained with sin. But it does mean that our firm intention must be not to sin willfully. Commitment to a life of holiness without exception is a requirement for consistently making the right choices. There’s no point in praying for God’s help in the face of temptation if we haven’t made a commitment to obedience without exception.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – No Exceptions →

Today’s Scripture: Deuteronomy 28:19

“Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.”

What are the effects of the curse? According to George Smeaton, the worst effect “is the loss of God, or the absence and complete withdrawal of God from a human soul.” I’m sure many people think they would be happy to lose him. But remember that as Jesus hung on the cross bearing the curse in our place, he cried in anguish, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

In Deuteronomy 28, Moses listed God’s promised blessings for Israel’s obedience of God’s law (verses 1-14) and his curses for disobedience (verses 15-68). The threatened curses were horrible beyond anything imaginable. For example, it includes a siege so severe that women would be driven to cannibalize their own children.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Losing God →

Today’s Scripture: 1 Peter 1:18

“You were ransomed.”

We associate the word ransom with kidnapping, but this hasn’t always been its primary association. Centuries ago, ransom was the payment given an enemy country to secure the release of prisoners of war. In Bible times a ransom was the price paid to gain freedom for a slave. To pay a ransom was to purchase back someone from captivity or slavery.

Jesus said, “The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, NIV). To fully understand his meaning we must examine the related word redeem, which means to buy back or release someone from slavery or captivity by paying a ransom. Redemption, then, is the action to secure release; while ransom is the price paid to effect the action.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Set Free →